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NATIONAL IMPULSES AND SEPARATIST TENDENCIES AMONG THE SOUTH SLAVS THROUGH 1914 by Andrew Gage Katkin Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in Partial Fufillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master o f Arts in Chair: ames Mallov Richard Breitman Ik. Dean of the College It Date 1997 The American University SCOT Washington. D.C. 20016 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 13 87953 UMI Microform 1387953 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ETHNIC NATIONALISM OR TRIBAL ENEMIES? NATIONAL IMPULSES AND SEPARATIST TENDENCIES AMONG THE SOUTH SLAVS THROUGH 1914 BY Andrew Gage Katkin ABSTRACT At the end of the twenty first century Yugoslavia was tom apart by vicious ethnic rivalries. Many observers made light of the ancient origins of these rivalries and, in so doing, cast doubts on the wisdom of ever having created a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-faith state such as Yugoslavia. Through the use of primary sources from the turn of the century, as well as a vast array of secondary sources, this thesis seeks to debunk the myth of ancient hatreds and critically examine the movement towards Yugoslav unity. In chapters tracing the histories of the Yugoslav peoples and their respective periods of national awakenings, the rise of a distinctly Yugoslav nationalism is chronicled. Substantive chapters on variations in language, education and religion address the separatist tendencies inherent in such differences as well attempts to minamalize these variants in order to construct a coherent Yugoslav nationalism. In the end it is found that up to and beyond 1914 there was substantial reason to believe that a unified Yugoslav state could succeed and thrive. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................ii INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. HISTORIES OF THE SOUTH SLAVS IN THE BALKANS............................. 11 2. NATIONAL AWAKENINGS...................................................................................26 3. LANGUAGE AND SOUTH SLAV NATIONALISM.........................................62 4. EDUCATION ..............................................................................................................75 5. RELIGION ................................................................................................................... 81 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................. 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 105 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION As the war in what was Yugoslavia comes to what can only be hoped to be a lasting ending, many observers continue to ponder the origins of this period of devastation and destruction. Much has been made of the historical differences among the South Slavs.1 Some have gone so far as to suggest that it was folly for the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual state ever to have been created in 1918, that the "hatred" between Muslims, Serbs and Croats, supposedly dating from before medieval times, was too powerful for any conceivable similarities to overcome. A.J.P. Taylor asserts that in 1914 "every nationality in Austria except the Italians and a minority of the Germans, preferred the Habsburg Monarchy to any conceivable alternative."2 Lawrence Goodrich wrote in the Christian Science Monitor that "what is happening today in the Balkans is nothing new. It is the continuation of the ethnic and religious hatreds that have swept the region for centuries.. ."3 U.S. Marine Corps Major Arthur L. Clark, in his book Bosnia: 'The South Slavs include the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Bulgarians, as well as the less clearly defined national groups currently known as Bosnians, Montenegrins, and Macedonians. 2As quoted in Hans Kohn, "Reflections on Austrian History" The Austrian History Yearbook 1, (1965): 14. 3Lawrence J. Goodrich, "Old Animosities, Exploited Today, Underline Complex Balkan Puzzle." Christian Science Monitor. 17 May 1993, sec. 1:1. Goodrich goes farther in his article, asserting that: "the rule of the Balkans is: Everything for my ethnic group and nothing for yours. The group on top 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. What Every American Should Know, asserts that in Bosnia there are "religious, ethnic, and political tensions that have simmered, and sometimes exploded violently, over hundreds of years."4 When the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, as Yugoslavia was originally known, was formed in 1918 it was a nation of peoples who spoke seven different languages, professed three major religious beliefs, and used two different alphabets.5 And yet the nation’s borders were cemented and approved at the Paris Peace Conference that concluded the following year. Was this creation a Frankenstein monster, doomed from the start to be destroyed at the hands of its citizens? This paper addresses the historical context as it existed in 1914 when, following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand on June 28, the world was plunged into war. After an examination of the early history, periods of national awakening, and the political events of the century leading up to the First World War, the paper concludes that there were substantial bases for optimism about national unity. While there were many differences, and even some antagonisms, among the South Slavs, there were also many now [presumably he is speaking of the Serbs who, at least in military terms, are the dominant force in the region] governs at the expense of the others; the groups out of power wreak vengeance when the power balance shifts." He then continues to the point of absurdity by professing that "People see themselves as Serbs, Romanians, or Albanians first and as individuals second." 4Arthur L. Clark. Bosnia: What Every American Should Know fNew York: Berkley Books, 1996), 1- 2 . 5Additionally there was still a limited use of the Arabic script among sections of the Islamic community in Bosnia. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. persuasive reasons for thoughtful observers at the time to believe that a united South Slav state was both proper and prudent. One might remember that Frankenstein's monster was created not by a madman but by a learned scientist who saw in the disparate parts the inherent similarities capable of sustaining autonomous life. Finally, just as the Frankenstein tale can tell us much about man’s relationship to a rapidly industrializing society, the saga of Yugoslavia can be used to help us understand the world around us. Yugoslavia is unique to a certain degree, but the universal commonalities should not be overlooked. Particularly in eastern Europe, the struggle to overcome non-organic differences left from centuries of foreign conquest, is a common theme of every national unity movement. The Yugoslav saga